"Now, back to the cephalic phase insulin response:
"Think about the typical dieter who denies herself nourishing or satisfying food, who might be quite low in calories, and is simply hungry. Chances are, she just starts to fantasize about food.
Has ever happened to you – where you start to imagine all the forbidden foods that you want to eat? Well, for the person who’s constantly fantasizing about pasta or cookies or cake or ice cream or any sugary or carbohydrate food – they’ll be in a continuous cephalic phase insulin response, and thus producing insulin, even though there are no carbohydrates or sugar for that insulin to act upon.
This means that insulin levels will be artificially high and the insulin will be sitting around with nothing to do. By default, this chemical will then perform its secondary function, which is to store fat and inhibit muscle growth. Add to this the stress of dieting and denying oneself food and satisfaction, and our dieter will also produce more cortisol – yet another fat-storage hormone.
So by constantly fantasizing about carbohydrate-rich foods and leading a stressful life, our dieter will have the exact pieces in place for chronically elevated insulin and cortisol – the precursors for “non-caloric” weight gain."
http://psychologyofeating.com/can-thoughts-be-fattening-video-with-emily-rosen/
"Can just the sight of food raise insulin?
We’ve all heard of studies that show that simply tasting something sweet without ingesting it can raise insulin, but can simply seeing certain foods trigger the same process?
Sylvie
Yes. this is called the cephalic response. The sight or smell of food starts you salivating and insulin starts rising immediately even if you do not eat.
Dr. Jason Fung"
"Some Japanese researchers believe that our thoughts about food can cause actual physical changes that may lead to weight gain.
Their study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, concluded that the anticipation of a sweet treat in mice and rats triggers their muscles to start taking up glucose from the blood and getting ready for action. If that muscle does not in fact get to work, the glucose will be stored as fat.
How does it happen? The researchers identified the culprit as orexin (probably etymologically related to “Oreo”), a protein contained in neurons in the brain’s hypothalamus. Orexin has also been identified as a neurotransmitter involved with pleasure seeking and drug and alcohol addiction.
The idea that our thoughts might trigger a response in our digestive and metabolic systems is not a new one. A 1985 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition noted that it is "well documented that the sight, smell, and taste of food can profoundly affect an organism’s physiology."
In particular, it’s well known that our mind has the ability to trigger insulin production. It’s called the “cephalic phase insulin response.” And insulin is the hormone that directs our body to store fat."